To Strip or Not To Strip?

I’m sure I’ve made enough posts by now that everyone knows I’m due at any second. I seriously thought I would have popped by now, but still, my baby swims comfortably inside my belly.

I’ve tried just about everything to jumpstart labor. Walking, sex, eggplant parmesan, walking some more, bumpy car rides, driving over train tracks, and even googling pressure point massage techniques for inducing labor have all failed. However, there’s one thing I haven’t tried, and that’s having my membranes stripped.

At my last weekly doctor’s appointment, my OB/GYN said that if I haven’t gone into labor on my own by my next weekly visit, that she would strip my membranes. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it’s basically where your doctor uses his/her finger and and gently separates your bag of water from the sides of your uterus near the cervix. Apparently, this can easily be done while your doctor is checking you cervix, but it can be quite uncomfortable.

Of course after my doctor told me she would do this, I immediately went home and started googling. From my own research, this sounds like a pretty good way to induce, or jumpstart labor in the later stages of pregnancy. It also doesn’t seem like there are a lot, if any risks to having this done. The only drawback that I really see is that it can cause severe cramping which can keep you up a night. I’m up most the night tossing and turning anyways, but I can see where losing what little precious sleep I might get could take away some of the vital energy I will need for going through labor.

Have any of you ladies had your membranes stripped? Would you recommend I go for it? How fast did it work for you? What are your general thoughts and feeling on this?

Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, profile photo and other personal information you make public on Facebook (e.g., school, work, current city, age) will appear with your comment. Learn More.